This invention relates to the field of human-computer interfaces, specifically those relating to methods of intuitively controlling interactions such as scrolling and zooming.
Computing technology has seen a many-fold increase in capability in recent years. Processors work at ever higher rates; memories are ever larger and faster; mass storage is larger and cheaper every year. Computers now are essential elements in many aspects of life, and are often used to present three dimensional worlds to users, in everything from games to scientific visualization.
The interface between the user and the computer has not seen the same rate of change. Screen windows, keyboard, monitor, and mouse are the standard, and have seen little change since their introduction. Many computers are purchased with great study as to processor speed, memory size, and disk space. Often, little thought is given to the human-computer interface, although most of the user's experience with the computer will be dominated by the interface (rarely does a user spend significant time waiting for a computer to calculate, while every interaction must use the human-computer interface).
Present human-computer interfaces generally rely on visual feedback. A document in a word processor or editor, for example, is displayed to the user. The user can position a cursor by moving a mouse; visual feedback of the display of a cursor allows the user to effectively control the cursor position. The user can also edit the document by typing, cutting, or pasting, for example, again using visual feedback to effectively control the computer application.
Using visual feedback for all aspects of a human-computer interface, however, can require that the user constantly change the visual focus. For example, in a word processor, the user can focus on the text, directing visual attention to the text and the edits the user is making. Movement of the cursor, or scrolling through the document, requires that the user divert attention from the text editing and to the cursor control or scrolling operation. Once the cursor has been repositioned or the document scrolled to the appropriate place, then the user must once again redirect attention from the scrolling and cursor interaction to the editing interaction. The overload of the visual feedback path (by sharing it for various different functions) can result in decreased human-computer interaction efficiency. Further, fine control of scrolling can be difficult using just visual feedback, a difficulty made even worse by the overload of the visual feedback path.
Accordingly, there is a need for new methods of human-computer interaction that make use of other feedback paths, reducing the overload of the visual feedback path.